Developed by
ICAO, the International Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) contained
in the nineteen Technical Annexes to the Convention on International Civil
Aviation (also called Chicago Convention) are applied universally and
produce a high degree of technical uniformity which has enabled international
civil aviation to develop in a safe, orderly and efficient manner.

Annex 12 sets forth the
provisions applicable to the establishment, maintenance and operation of search
and rescue services by Contracting States in their territories and over the
high seas.

When PICAO
came into existence in 1945, Technical Divisions composed of specialists
from Members States and of observers from organizations interested in
international civil aviation, assisted by the Organization’s Secretariat, were
directed and coordinated by the two committees of the PICAO Council, i.e. the Air
Navigation Committee and the Air Transport Committee. The Search and
Rescue Division (SAR) and the Accident Investigation Division (AIG) were
responsible for the preparation of texts designed to replace the original Annex
L to the Chicago Convention named: Search and rescue, and investigation of
accidents.

The SAR
Division held its first Session (8 meetings) from 19 to 23 November
1945. At the second Session of the SAR held from 26 November to 9 December 1946,
the Recommendations and Practices for Search and Rescue prepared during the first
Session and the procedures resulting from the Regional Meetings were reviewed; procedures
of world-wide applicability were incorporated in the revised Recommendations
for Standards, Practices and Procedures for Search and Rescue.

Annex 12 -
Front Page

Resolution A1-28 of the First
Session of the Assembly (held in May 1947) directed the work of the Secretariat
towards helping the Contracting States to implement the existing SAR
Recommendations and assist in securing the training of the personnel involved.
The Search and Rescue Standards and Recommended Practices were rewritten in
accordance with the Air Navigation Committee directive and Annex 12 Search
and Rescue was first adopted by the ICAO Council on 25 May 1950. This Annex
was based upon a draft prepared by the Secretariat, because the proposals made
at the Second Session of the Division had been found generally unacceptable
since they called for a search and rescue structure based on the wartime type of
organization which was quite beyond the capacity of most countries in
peacetime.

The Third Session of the
Search and Rescue (SAR) Division was convened from 4 to 24 September
1951. One of its principal tasks was the review of the Standards and
Recommended Practices for Search and Rescue. It was interesting to note that
the amendments proposed by the Third Session were relatively few and, being directed
mainly towards simplification and economy in implementation, constituted a
practical endorsement of the drastic scaling-down in the Annex of the system
originally recommended. As a result, the second edition of Annex 12 was adopted
by the ICAO Council on 31 March 1952.

An important meeting of the Rules
of the Air, Air Traffic Services and Search and Rescue (RAC/SAR) Division was
held in Montréal from 21 October to 14 November 1958. Its recommendations
involved fairly extensive amendments to several Annexes, including Annex 12
which required the addition of provisions designed to facilitate the passage
of search and rescue units across national boundaries, the modification of the
Recommended Practice on the delineation of the boundaries of Search and Rescue Areas
to give efficiency priority over observance of the principle that the
boundaries of these areas should coincide with the boundaries of Flight
Information Regions, the revision of the procedures for initiating search and
rescue action for an aircraft whose position is unknown, and the improvement of
the procedures to be followed by Rescue Coordination Centers in terminating
search and rescue operations. The 4th edition of Annex 12 was
adopted by the Council on 8 December 1959.

On 25 November 1974, the
Council adopted the 6th edition of Annex 12, in the form of a
completely revised Annex by the Air Navigation Commission aimed at improving
the presentation and updating the provisions. In addition to a comprehensive
reorganization of the Annex, the following amendments were introduced: introduction
of a new signal to surface craft and relocation of the search and rescue
signals in a new Appendix to the Annex; introduction of requirements concerning
provision of search and rescue service on a 24-hour basis, dissemination of
information on position of merchant ships, and submission of appraisals of
search and rescue operations; introduction of provisions aimed at improvement
of co-operation in search and rescue between neighboring States; and
introduction of provisions concerning equipment of rescue units, availability
of information on air traffic services, location of droppable survival
equipment, methods for assisting aircraft in distress and being compelled to
ditch to rendezvous with surface craft, and methods for assisting SAR or other
aircraft to rendezvous with aircraft in distress.

Ground-air
visual signal code for use by survivors, as per Appendix to Annex 12.

Later, amendments were
brought to Annex 12 on the basis of recommendations made by the Air Navigation
Commission.

Annex 12 is complemented by guidance
provided in the three-volume International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and
Rescue Manual (IAMSAR Manual; Vol.1: Organization and Management, Vol.2: Mission
Co-Ordination, Vol.3: Mobile Facilities). The primary purpose of the IAMSAR
Manual is to assist States in meeting their own search and rescue (SAR) needs,
and the obligations they accepted under the Convention on International Civil
Aviation, the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, and the
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). This Manual is
published jointly by ICAO and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

ICAO continuously worked with
the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on a wide variety of subjects of
mutual concern. An ICAO/IMO Joint Working Group (JWG) on the Harmonization of
Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue was established in 1993, with the
objective of assisting ICAO and IMO with the task of harmonizing aeronautical
and maritime search and rescue procedures. The JWG held its first meeting in London
(at IMO’s Headquarters) from 11 to 15 October 1993.

Air-sea rescue (ASR) refers
to the combined use of aircraft (such as flying boats, floatplanes, amphibious
helicopters and non-amphibious helicopters equipped with hoists) and surface
vessels to search for and recover survivors of aircraft downed at sea as well
as sailors and passengers of sea vessels in distress.Helicopters were first introduced to
the role of air-sea rescue in the 1940s. Helicopters became frequently used,
due to a number of advantages; they could fly in rougher weather than
fixed-wing aircraft and could deliver injured passengers directly to hospitals
or other emergency facilities. Helicopters can hover above the scene of an
accident while fixed-wing aircraft must circle, or for seaplanes, land and taxi
toward the accident.

Italy
- Agusta BellAB204-B of the Air Search and Rescue (SAR)with pilots.

Built
under licenseby Agustain more than 250specimens, AB 204isdirectlyderived from theAmerican Bell UH-1.
In 1962, this helicopter started service
with the Italian AirForce and
was used for theair rescue,
transport and connections.

The
above first day cover,with the related illustrative page, is extracted from the 38-page
commemorative album: Together We Fly, issued by the Civil Aviation
Department of Hong Kong on the occasion of the 41st Conference of
the Directors General of Civil Aviation, Asia and Pacific Regions, held in
Hong Kong, China, from 1 to 5 November 2004.